Why I’m Not Cool Enough to Watch Downton Abbey~ A post of Confessions

I thought my first post of 2014 should be memorable and profound. This probably isn’t it.

I’m not playing the resolution game. Honestly, it’s too much work and makes my brain hurt. It’s not that I don’t have goals or dreams. I have many, actually. But I’m not keen on sharing most of them. I’d rather just work them out and let the results speak for themselves.

But in an effort to be more transparent and less cryptic, I’m going to tell you a few things about me; a few things that may shock you or disappoint you. You see, as much as I like to read, as much as I like to be current and on top of pop culture and “with it”, I’m really not.

For example, I’ve never read Pride and Prejudice. Ever. I’ve never watched any of the films about it.

I’ve never read an entire C.S. Lewis from front to back. I have several on my book shelf and I’m hoping to get through at least one this year.

I haven’t got a clue what all the hype is with Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead. Pardon me if my time is better spent on living people and more worthy causes.

I do, however, cry if I miss an episode of Parenthood. Seriously THE MOST UNDERRATED television show of all time. Maybe because it’s actually like real life? Instead of meth-head teachers and talking zombies. Maybe.

I never did see the entire movie “Titanic” from start to finish. I get kind of crabby when movies come out that are so over-rated, over-publicized and “everyone must see them”. All I can think about is the old adage “if your friend told you to jump off a bridge would you do that too?” Don’t worry, in chunks and bits and here and there I have watched all of the movie now- over the years- I get it. Spoiler alert: people drown.

I have quinoa in my pantry but I’ve never cooked with it. I think I’ve eaten a quinoa salad once. It was okay. I just find rolled oats, rice and tapioca more natural.

I’ve NEVER eaten a pomegranate. I don’t know how to shop for them. Don’t know how to eat them. I’m actually afraid they’ll be horrible and everyone only says they like it because it’s supposed to be healthy. You know, when I grew up, there were no pomegranates. At least not here in Western Canada. We ate Velveeta cheese by the truckload though. I haven’t died of cancer. I don’t get all the rage with the cool , trendy, “nature’s gold” foods. I mean, it’s great that we have shipping that allows us to try everything but at $5-10 a pound, I’m kind of “meh” about it all.

I’ve never touched my feet in any ocean. I would love to go to the east coast. Maybe someday.

I don’t own a coffee grinder. If I did, I wouldn’t know what kind of coffee beans to buy or how to grind them perfectly. I have no clue.

I never go to Starbucks. I went there once about 8 years ago and had a hot chocolate that cost me over $4 and wasn’t even that good. I don’t actually get why people line up and pay so much for something so prevalent at any and every shop.

I know there are people out there reading this, shocked, confused, maybe feeling betrayed. Why would I confess to such things in 2014 of all things? Well, here’s the thing: I kind of think I’m more normal than the current pop culture fanatics have led us all to believe. I don’t think you have to be an infinity scarf wearing, tall leather boot sporting, Starbucks coffee drinking, quinoa crunchy hippie eating, pomegranate seed chewing hipster who only watches Downton Abbey and reads her kids poetry at bedtime. I mean, if you do all that…well…..yay for you. But I actually don’t know anyone like that. Except on the internet. If the internet is right, then that is exactly who 87.3% of the bloggers I follow are. But I don’t think the internet is right. And I’m blowing up any notion that someone HAS to watch British public television to be in the “in crowd”. I’m sure it’s a lovely show. I’m sure the characters are rich and rife with passion and intricacies. But I’m not there. I might never be there.

I like my grilled cheese made with Kraft slices on white bread.

I like homemade lasagna with lots of cottage cheese.

I like mandarin oranges at Christmas-time and no other time. The rest of the time I prefer navel oranges cut in quarters spraying juice in the eye of my neighbour.

I don’t shower very often, I prefer baths.

I miss mini-series like North and South, The Thornbirds and The Winds of War.

I watched Anne of Green Gables, the Waltons, Little House on the Prairie and Three’s Company when I was a kid.

I think one of the best movies ever made was You’ve Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and if that means I have to turn in my movie-going card for the rest of time then so be it. A close second is Pretty Woman. Yes, Richard Gere and Julia Roberts can walk across my screen any old time and I will stop cooking, cleaning and paying attention to everyone in order to hear THAT laugh and see THAT dress.

I may not be the blogger you thought I was. I probably say Downtown Abbey more often than I should because in my mind this is about a large church in central London, a vicar, his choirboys and the mistress he keeps in the back. Wrong? Oh well.

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12 thoughts on “Why I’m Not Cool Enough to Watch Downton Abbey~ A post of Confessions”

Loving your writing in Kansas, USA. I am not a fan of resolutions. I tried “resolving” to get my kids to daycare earlier so I could be at work earlier and leave early at the end of the day. It worked for 2 weeks. End of resolution. I love snuggling my babies too much to rush around. Starbucks is TOTALLY intimidating. I don’t even know what most of those options are. When I do finally order something, it usually doesn’t even taste like what I’d hoped for. Sheesh! I wear infinity scarves because I’m not “in-touch” enough to know how to twist and tie a regular one. Pomegranates? Not sold at our local grocery store. Quinoa? Not so much. I can’t even convince my 3yr old to eat rice or pudding! We are good standard grapes, bananas, apples, and oranges people.

haha! love confessions! and: i hate it when something i love becomes a trend and then all the lemmings are blindly rampaging and ruining it. i too find myself getting crabby at tv because they usually drop the shows i love 2nd season in and leave the story hanging in an abyss of questions… so now we scope out shows a year or two late and see what’s survived. a friend got me an infinity scarf but i discovered it’s just like a giant knit necklace as it does not actually keep my neck warm. and i happen to already love pomegranates because i am greek and it is the nectar of the gods in all the mythology stories that i love, but they are such a pain to open that they usually sit in the fridge for weeks while i wait and hope someone else will open them… and then they go bad. but a friend just showed this to me over xmas, and it has changed my life, so i will share it with you for when you get bold enough to try one: merry christmas! http://lifehacker.com/5895852/deseed-a-pomegranate-in-10-seconds-using-a-wooden-spoon

I think I laughed my way through this…. not at you but due to that fact, though I may have done a few of the things that you have listed – move over sister- my uncool self can relate to an awful lot of what you said!! We are so ‘cool’ at this house that we don’t even have cable or satellite.. nope, just CTV Regina the old fashioned way until it disappears. Thumbs up to not making resolutions or wearing infinity scarves (these just make me have a mini meltdown thinking about how hot I would be..GROSS!). I only read P&P after watching the 6 hr A&E version and a whole CS Lewis book because of a book club I am sort of participating in (still trying to figure out what it meant). PARENTHOOD!!! (need I say more except I have to watch online or wait to purchase it and then plow-watch). So thank you for this! I like knowing that there are others out there with better things to do than get excited over nasty tasting coffee combos (I DO stop at Starbucks when at Chapters or Safeway for a REGULAR, black, medium roast from time to time because it’s convenient but it’s still too much for a coffee), zombies & other dead, night-crawling non-realistic hyped things. I confess to having enjoyed Downton Abby BEFORE it became the craze it has become (saw a few episodes on a vacation it’s first year). It is in it’s 4th season and I find my enthusiasm for the story lines waning & may not even watch it. I definitely feel ‘meh’ when anyone feels the need to out ‘gross’ the next guy or, in this case, over dramatize and become way too ‘soapy’ to try to maintain the hype. My enjoyment for those things British has been the joy & familiarity of the mundane so am kind of disappointed to have a good thing ruined. All this to say I am also OK with being uncool in so many ways! Again, thanks for this! It will keep me smiling through the day I am sure! PS: I have eaten pomegranates & they are ok but it boils down to being too lazy to care and now I feel I am almost rebelling to NOT get caught up in the craze. O & please…. what the heck are these chia seeds that are suddenly the rage?? All I get out of it is an ear-worm of the commercial for those chia pet commercials going round & round in my head when I see or hear the word!

Hey Shelley…. “Ch-ch-ch chia!”😉 Actually I have chia seeds just because Costco had a bag at a reasonable price and I do add them to smoothies. Apparently chia pudding is much like tapioca so I’m willing to give it a shot. Trends! Gah!!!!

Wow, you nearly described me in this post… although my reasons for not watching Downton Abbey is that I fear I will get irrationally hooked on it, and I quite like being able to have a life. But a lot of your sentiments about quinoa and Starbucks ring quite true for me.

But like the above poster replied, pomegranates are pretty awesome. And there are a lot of great videos on how to cut it apart to get to the part that you eat.

Juanita, you should try pomegranates! They did sell them when you were growing up. I remember buying two when Lyle and I were going out and slowly eating them together. It was a cheap date. We did that just the other day – went to a movie at Rainbow and came home and slowly ate pomegranates. Takes me 20 minutes to eat one.

Me:Prairie Girl!

My name is Juanita and I live on the western prairies of Canada. It's not winter here all the time! Honest. But I do love winter. I love photography. I love my family and I love people. I have a passion for truth and I'm learning to temper that with love and gentleness...slow learner I think. ;)